The first book Mary read was her father’s copy of The Lives of the Saints. A short while later, she graduated to Nancy Drew mysteries and the Encyclopedia Britannica. She penned her first short story in high school and had a few poems published in her college literary magazine. She truly hopes these artifacts are never excavated. Mary’s official writing career started with the publication of “On Being Italian American: An Introspection” in the Summer/Fall 1990 issue of Sinister Wisdom. Her first novel, No Matter What, followed in 1993. Finding Grace was published in 1999 and won the 1999 Colorado Authors’ League “Top Hand” Award in the Adult Mainstream/Literary Fiction category. Her memoir, Voices of the Soft-bellied Warrior came out in 2001. Her third novel, The Singing of Swans, was published by Pearlsong Press in 2006. It was a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Spirituality category. Her newest novel, Heretics: A Love Story, hit bookstores in June 2014.

Mary’s short stories, creative nonfiction/memoir pieces and poetry have been published in a variety of literary and cultural journals, both in print and online.